In the performance of open heart vascular surgery, it is a common practice to provide what is termed a purse string suture around the locus of the cannulation site which involves a series of loops of a suture around the site such that when the ends are ultimately pulled taut, the cannula aperture will be closed.
However, in the meantime a cannulazation must be accomplished and a cannula secured in place in the vessel. The cannula is used for infusing or removing fluids during surgery. During this period, the ends of the sutures must be drawn tight to hold the vessel around the cannula securely until the surgery is completed. The cannula is then removed and the purse string is pulled taut and tied in order to close the opening.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tourniquet tube which can be used to secure the suture ends in rapid fashion and to release the ends for drawing the purse string taut.
It is a further object to provide a tourniquet tube which is a one-piece unit with no need for the application of a securing plug or hemostat to the ends of the suture.
Other objects and features of the invention will be set forth in the following description and claims in which the principles of the invention are set forth together with details to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the invention, all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the invention.